1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to products and processes useful in the manufacture of synthetic resins.
2. Description of the Art Practices
Hydroformylation is basically defined as the addition of a formyl group through the reaction of an unsaturated compound with carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The basic techology for the manufacture of hydroformylated products and consequently their derivatives is amply set out hereinafter. Among the difficulties which must be met in the manufacture of hydroformylated products is the consideration that hydrogen gas, an explosive, and carbon monoxide, a hazardous material, are utilized in the process. Hydroformylation processes are also dependent on expensive metallic catalysts such as carbonyls which have high toxicity and high cost. The conditions for running a hydroformylation reaction also involve the use of substantial temperature and pressure thus necessitating costly equipment which must be maintained.
Thus due to the various factors and considerations which go into the manufacture of hydroformylated products and their derivatives it is essential that the reactions individually and cummulatively give high purity of the desired end product and high yield thereby avoiding excessive handling of hazardous materials while minimizing the high capital cost and maintenance of such production facilities.
In the past several attempts have been made to prepare hydroformylated products or similar materials such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,437,600 to Gresham et al issued Mar. 9, 1948. The Gresham patent relates to the synthesis of organic oxygen containing compounds, in particular aldehydes. U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,276 to McKeever et al issued Dec. 12, 1950 describes ester-acetals obtained with cobalt catalysts. U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,468 to McKeever issued June 3, 1952 describes the process of preparing nonadecyl glycols.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,040,090 issued June 19, 1962 to Alderson et al discusses the reaction of hydrocarbons with aldehydes and higher alcohols in methanol to prepare organic oxy compounds. The Alderson et al patent sets forth a number of metallic catalysts which may be employed in effecting the reactions described therein.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,043,871 issued July 10, 1962 to Buchner et al the production of heptadecane-dicarboxylic acid is described. Foreman et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,640 issued Jan. 4, 1966 describes the production of olefinically unsaturated alcohols which are of use in manufacturing some of the end products of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,898 issued to Van Winkle et al. on Jan. 7, 1969 discusses the use of cobalt complexes with certain phosphine compounds in the production of primary alcohols with carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,190 issued Sept. 22, 1970 to Olivier discusses hydrocarbonylation of olefins using certain metal salts. The foregoing reference also discusses the recovery of the complexed metal catalyst. In a patent to Ramsden issued Jan. 16, 1973 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,560, the production of polyolefins and other oxygenated organic compounds which are polyunsaturated is discussed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,459 issued Jan. 22, 1974 to Frankel a process is described for converting unsaturated vegetable oil into formyl products which are subsequently reduced to the corresponding hydroxymethyl derivative or oxidized to the corresponding carboxy products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,442 issued Aug. 12, 1975 to Freidrich discusses a complementary system to that of the Frankel patent whereby rhodium catalysts are recovered from the spent hydroformylation reactants. Frankel, again in U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,231, issued Dec. 23, 1975 discusses a process of preparing carboxy acid products in high yields while minimizing isomerization of the starting unsaturated vegetable oil. Miller et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,637 issued June 6, 1978 discusses the use of formyl stearic acid to prepare bis acyloxymethylstearic acid which is stated to be useful as a plasticizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,332 issued Jan. 6, 1976 to Wilkes discusses hydroformylation reactions in which the destructive disassociation of the catalyst is inhibited by the presence of organic nitrogen compounds. Reichspatentamt Patentschrift No. 745,265 to Mannes et al published Mar. 1, 1944 discusses the preparation of dicarboxylic acids and their salts. In Bundesrepublik Deutschland Pat. No. 965 697 issued June 13, 1957 to Blaser and Stein the reaction of unsaturated alcohols and their derivatives with metal carbonyls and carbon monoxide is discussed. A by-product which is obtained through the technology of Blaser et al includes substantial amounts of monoformylated product. Similarly a formylation technique which results in a monoformylated product when using unsaturated alcohols is discussed in an article by Ucciani et al in the Bull. Soc. Chim. (France) 1969 p. 2826-2830. Similarly Bundesrepublik Pat. No. 1,054,444 published Apr. 9, 1959 to Waldmann and Stein discusses the treatment of unsaturated fatty substances with formaldehyde in the presence of a carboxylic anhydride and an acidic catalyst to provide formyl products.
Substantial work has been done on the production of various hydroformylated products by the United States Department of Agriculture at both the Eastern and Western Regional Research Laboratories. For example, in an article by Roe entitled "Branched Carboxylic Acids from Long-Chain Unsaturated Compounds and Carbon Monoxide at Atmospheric Pressure" published at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 37, p. 661-668 (1960). The production by direct carboxylation at atmospheric pressure of unsaturated acids with carbon monoxide or formic acid is discussed. The hydroformylation of unsaturated fatty esters is discussed by Frankel et al at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 46, p. 113-138 (1968). Frankel has also reported a selective catalyst system for the hydroformylation of methyl oleate utilizing rhodium catalyst in the presence of triphenylphosphine in an article entitled "Methyl 9(10)-Formylstearate by Selective Hydroformylation of Oleic Oils" at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 48, p. 248-253 (1971).
In a paper presented at the American Oil Chemists' Society meeting in Atlantic City, N.J. in 1971, Dufek et al discusses the esterification and transesterification of dicarboxylic acids under the title "Esterification and Transesterification of 9(10)-Carboxystearic Acid and Its Methyl Esters". The foregoing article was published at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 49 (5) p. 302-306 (1972). Frankel, again, discusses the use of specific catalysts to obtain hydroformylated products in an article titled "Selective Hydroformylation of Polyunsaturated Fats With a Rhodium-Triphenylphosphine Catalyst", J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 49, p. 10-14 (1972). Freidrich at Vol. 17, No. 3 of Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev. (1978) presents an article entitled "Low-Pressure Hydroformylation of Methyl-Oleate With an Activated Rhodium Catalyst".
Pryde, working with Frankel and Cowan discuss hydroformylation via the oxo reaction, Koch carboxylation and Reppe carbonylation in an article entitled "Reactions of Carbon Monoxide with Unsaturated Fatty Acids and Derivatives: A Review", reported at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 49, p. 451-456 (1972).
Friedrich discusses the hydroformylation of unsaturated esters combined with catalyst recovery in an article entitled "Hydroformylation of Methyl Oleate with a Recycled Rhodium Catalyst and Estimated Costs for a Batch Process" at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 50, p. 455-458 (1973). A similar area of technology is also reported by Frankel et al in an article entitled "Hydroformylation of Methyl Linoleate and Linolenate with Rhodium-Triphenylphosphine Catalyst" from I&EC Product Research & Development, Vol. 12, p. 47-53 (1973).
Certain condensation polymers prepared from pentaerythritol acetal derivatives are reported in an article "Poly(Amide-Acetals) and Poly(Ester-Acetals) from Polyol Acetals of Methyl (9(10)-Formylstearate: Preparation and Physical Characterization" reported at J. Am. Oil Chemist' Soc. 53, p. 20-26 (1976). Compounds obtained through hydroformylation technology useful as plasticizers are discussed in a Frankel et al article entitled "Acyl Esters from Oxo-Derived Hydroxymethylstearates as Plasticizers for Polyvinyl Chloride" printed in the J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 52, p. 498-504 (1975).
Friedrich in an article entitled "Oxidation of Methyl Formylstearate with Molecular Oxygen" at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 53, p. 125-129 (1976) reports the use of air or oxygen to form methyl carboxystearate from methyl formylstearate in an emulsion with a soluble rhodium complex. The reuse of catalyst in hydroformylation reactions is described by Awl in an article entitled "Hydroformylation with Recycled Rhodium Catalyst and One-Step Esterification-Acetalation: A Process for Methyl 9(10)-Methoxymethylenestearate from Olefic Acid" which is printed in J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 53, p. 190-195 (1976).
Useful diols for resin purposes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,477 issued Apr. 19, 1960 to Hostettler. Nonadecanediols are described as being utilized in urethane formulations in U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,414 to DeWitt et al issued Mar. 29, 1966. The production of triols which are not particularly useful in resins due to the close positioning of the hydroxyl groups is reported in Improved Synthesis of 1,1,1-trimethylolalkanes from Hexanal and Nonanal J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 45, p. 517 (July 1968) by Moore and Pryde.
Frankel et al in a paper entitled Catalytic Hydroformylation and Hydrocarboxylation of Unsaturated Fatty Compounds at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 54, p. 873A (1977) also describes formylation technology. Frankel also describes the use of carbonyl metallic compounds in hydroformylations in an article entitled "Catalytic Hydroformylation of Unsaturated Fatty Derivatives with Cobalt Carbonyl" at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 53, p. 138-141 (1976). The use of esters of various carboxystearic acids is discussed by Dufek et al in an article entitled "Some Esters of Mono-, Di-, and Tricarboxystearic Acid as Plasticizers: Preparation and Evaluation" at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 53, p. 198-203 (1976). Dufek et al also report catalyst recovery in an article entitled "Recovery of Solubilized Rhodium from Hydroformylated Vegetable Oils and Their Methyl Esters" in J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 54, p. 276-278.
Frankel discusses hydroformylation generally in an article entitled Selective Hydroformylation of Unsaturated Fatty Acid Esters at Annals N.Y. Academy of Sciences 214:79 (1973). Catalyst technology is reviewed at Recent Developments in Hydroformylation Catalysts in Catal. Rev. 6 (1) page 49 et seq. (1972).
Defek alone at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 55, p. 337-339 (1978) reports on the conversion of methyl 9(10) formylstearate in an article entitled "Conversion of Methyl 9(10)-Formylstearate to Carboxymethylstearate".
Acetal esters obtainable through hydroformylation technology are reported by Adlof et al in an article entitled "Preparation and Selective Hydrolysis of Acetal Esters" at J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 54, p. 414-416 (1977). Selective catalyst systems are again reported by Frankel in the J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 54, p. 873a-881a (1977) in an article entitled "Catalytic Hydroformylation and Hydrocarboxylation of Unsaturated Fatty Compounds".
The plasticization of polyvinylchloride resins is also reported in patent applications and coded P.C. 6333 and 6375 bearing respectively the titles "Acetoxymethyl Derivatives of Polyunsaturated Fatty Triglycerides as Primary Plasticizers for Polyvinylchloride", and "Alkyl 9,9(10,10)-Bis(acyloxymethyl) octadecanoates as Primary Plasticizers for Polyvinylchloride".
Each of the foregoing to the extent that it is applicable to the present invention is herein incorporated by reference.
The basic purpose of the present invention is to describe as end products the preparation of high molecular weight polyhydric alcohols and their useful urethane reaction products formed by the condensation of the polyhydric alcohol with a polyisocyanate. Of course several other uses of the technology embodied in this patent are readily apparent.
Throughout the specification and claims of the present invention percentages and ratios are by weight and temperatures are in degrees of Celsius unless otherwise indicated.